Kraft stacks the deck with Oreo Triple Double

Double Stuf just wasn't enough. Northfield-based Kraft Foods introduced the Triple Double Oreo at grocery stores Wednesday, packing three layers of cookie and alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate cream into an extra-crunchy, 100-calorie snack. For those who can stop at one anyway.

It's the latest twist on the nearly 100-year-old iconic Oreo, the world's best-selling cookie, with more than $1.5 billion in annual sales, according to Kraft. The company said Oreo sales were up 22 percent during the first half of 2011, compared with the same period a year ago.

Lisa Mann, a Kraft vice president of marketing responsible for Oreo in the U.S., said parents and children are the primary targets for the cookie because of the "twist, lick, dunk" ritual central to its advertising. The fun thing about the new cookie, she said, is that with the extra layer, there are choices where to start eating.

But given the attention Triple Double has received, Mann said, Kraft expects some interest from new or lapsed customers as well.

"We were just stunned at the buzz and excitement that we were getting from new media and comedians months before we even launched," she said.

The cookie is a take on Argentina's Oreo x3 cookie, introduced last year, with banana and dulce de leche filling. Kraft's Nabisco division will begin promoting the Triple Double in September, with TV ads featuring Shaquille O'Neal, Eli Manning, Venus Williams and Apolo Anton Ohno.

At 4.5 grams of fat, the Triple Double isn't exactly light. Heather Mangieri, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said consumers should think while eating.

"This is like eating two cookies," she said. "Before, you might have had two incorporated into your diet; now, you might want to consider having just one."

Jon Hauptman, a partner at Willard Bishop, a Barrington-based retail consulting firm, said the cookie is "a nice way to bring a little more energy to the cookie category." Since it's almost time for students to return to school, "it could be popular as an indulgent lunchbox treat," he added.

Through the years, Oreo has launched a variety of spinoffs on the Oreo. Some have been seasonal, like a Halloween version with orange cream. There's also a golden sandwich cookie with peanut butter filling.

Eating cookies is supposed to be fun for consumers, but it's big business for Kraft. The food giant describes Oreo, as well as other Kraft brands such as Chips Ahoy!, Trident, Tang and Jacobs Coffee, as central to its strategy of creating a $32 billion global snacking company next year as it splits off its $16 billion North American grocery business.

Oreo hasn't always been on a roll. In 2006, the brand's sales were lagging in the U.S., and the product was almost pulled in China, according to the company. Kraft increased marketing support in the U.S. and introduced a variety of culturally relevant products in China, like green tea ice cream filling for the chocolate sandwich cookie.

Kraft plans to build Oreo's presence in other developing markets. Last quarter, the company introduced Oreo to India.